Many football fans will be scratching their heads to see Switzerland among the top seeds at next year’s World Cup finals, while thoroughbreds like the Netherlands and Italy are not. The truth is that it could be down to the choices made by football administrators, not players. The eyes of millions of football fans will be focused on Costa do Sauipe in the Brazilian state of Bahia next week, for the 2014 World Cup draw. A path to glory for the 32 teams that have qualified will be determined when eight pools are created – each containing four teams that will play each other in the group stages. Eight of the teams are seeds. They are the seven highest-ranked teams in Fifa’s world rankings plus the host nation, which is Brazil. Being a seeded team has one big advantage – it means you don’t have to play one of the other seeds in the group stages. The top seven rankings when the seedings were determined in October were Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay and Switzerland. Brazil, ranked 11th at the time, joined them. By Ben Carter– BBC Sport
